Dairy consumption is inversely associated with the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults.

BACKGROUND Although previous studies showed some benefits from dairy consumption with respect to obesity and insulin resistance syndrome, epidemiologic data on the association between dairy intakes and metabolic syndrome are sparse. OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the relation between dairy consumption and metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults. DESIGN Dairy consumption and features of metabolic syndrome were assessed in a population-based cross-sectional study of 827 subjects (357 men and 470 women) aged 18-74 y. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to guidelines of the Adult Treatment Panel III. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted for lifestyle and nutritional confounders was used in 4 models. RESULTS Mean (+/-SD) consumption of milk, yogurt, and cheese was 0.7 +/- 0.2, 1.06 +/- 0.6, and 0.9 +/- 0.3 servings/d, respectively. Subjects in the highest quartile of dairy consumption had lower odds of having enlarged waist circumference [odds ratio (OR) by quartile: 1, 0.89, 0.74, 0.63; P for trend < 0.001], hypertension (OR by quartile: 1, 0.88, 0.79, 0.71; P for trend < 0.02), and metabolic syndrome (OR by quartile: 1, 0.83, 0.74, 0.69; P for trend < 0.02). The values of ORs became weaker after further adjustment for calcium intake. CONCLUSION Dairy consumption is inversely associated with the risk of having metabolic syndrome. It seems that this relation is somewhat attributed to calcium.